The present invention relates generally to a weapon system, and more particularly to a police baton having a firing mechanism capable of firing nonlethal in a situation where the use of force is required (the ability to fire less-lethal projectiles in an effort to control combative suspects. Although this invention is called the Bean Bag Baton, the device is not limited to firing bean bag munitions. The Bean Bag Baton is designed to fire various types of less-lethal projectiles).
There are situations where law enforcement officers or military personnel are required to use force to control an armed or combative suspect. This device was invented to provide an alternative for law enforcement officers or military personnel to handle such situations. The purpose of the Bean Bag Baton is to minimize great bodily and/or fatal injuries to the suspect, and to increase safety for law enforcement officers or military personnel.
Traditionally, the only options available are a firearm, chemical agents, baton or club, or their fist. Whenever the firearm is used there is a distinct possibility that results could be fatal. The use of chemical agents is not always effective because of various reasons which include but are not limited to the dispensing canister being out of order or the law enforcement or military personnel who deployed the chemical agents becoming gassed. Use of the baton can result in great bodily injuries. However, trauma and/or pain have always been preferred to a fatal outcome. The use of pain compliance holds, punches, or kicks, causes the law enforcement or military personnel to unnecessarily physically engage the suspect. Many times the physical engagement results in the escalation of force, which often leads to the use of deadly force.
Currently, the law enforcement officers deploy kinetic less-lethal munitions by using a shoulder weapon. The shoulder weapon is usually a shotgun or rifle. During routine patrols, law enforcement or military personnel do not normally carry a shoulder weapon. When the law enforcement officers make a determination that a situation tactically necessitates the use of a less-lethal kinetic option, the officers are required to go back to their vehicles to secure a shotgun or a specially designated shotgun to deploy the less-lethal munitions. In some cases, officers do not have any less-lethal option available to them in their vehicles. They must request for a unit to respond to their location with less-lethal kinetic options. Not having the less-lethal kinetic options immediately available on the person of the initial responding officers limits their options to control the suspects.
The bean bag baton can minimize the risk of injury to both the law enforcement or military personnel and the suspects. The Bean Bag Baton is designed to deploy less-lethal munitions. The less-lethal projectiles are impact kinetic type munitions. The Bean Bag Baton is portable and is capable of being on the immediate person of law enforcement officers at all times. The Bean Bag Baton is also used as a regular baton.
In close range combat situations, batons or billy clubs, rather than rifles or hand guns, are commonly used by law enforcement officers or by military personnel to prevent unnecessary fatalities. Many types of conventional batons or billy clubs are commercially available. For instance, a police baton having an elongated barrel and a handle positioned at about one-fourth (xc2xc) of the overall longitudinal length from a rear end is probably the most commonly used basic shape of all conventional police batons currently available on the market. Based on this basic design, variations and/or features are added thereon to provide a greater functionality to the conventional police batons.
Frazier et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,300) discloses a self-powered extensible projectile launching police baton. The ""300 patent has a hollow telescopic ram or bolt member that is shorter than a barrel or trunk portion of the baton and is positioned within the barrel of the baton. The ram member can be driven out of the barrel of the baton by a source of gas under pressure. Thus, the ram member is extendible and fully retractable within the barrel of the baton. An explosive cartridge is mounted within the barrel near a rear end for providing a pressing force of the gas. A front tip of the extensible ram is purposely made blunt or is encircled by a thick deformable object to reduce the impact when the extensible ram hits an object or a person, thereby reducing the possibility of serious injury or fatality to any person.
Lyon (U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,097) discloses a police baton having an integral projectile launcher. The ""097 patent has a main elongate body and a cross-handle perpendicularly coupled to the main body similar to the most common design of the conventional baton. The ""097 baton""s main elongated body includes a launching barrel and a breech end, which houses a firing mechanism and a recessed trigger for launching a projectile positioned within the launching barrel. The ""097 police baton is capable of xe2x80x9cfiringxe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cless-lethalxe2x80x9d projectiles or tear gas to subdue violent crowds in a distance of tens of meters away. To fire the ""097 patent baton, a user has to insert his finger into a hole of a trigger position on the breech end and pull the trigger backward.
This invention, the Bean Bag Baton is an apparatus that can shoot a projectile out of itself. It has a barrel part, which holds the projectile. It has a breech part, which contains a firing mechanism. Pressing frontward a pulling stop of the firing mechanism triggers the firing mechanism. A trigger is attached to the firing mechanism to operate it. The breech body part of the invention has a handle that is affixed to it perpendicularly. The breech body part and the barrel body part are attached to each other so they can pivot relative to one another.
The foregoing and additional features and advantages of this present invention will become apparent by way of non-limitative examples shown in the accompanying drawings and detailed description that follow. In the figures and written description, numerals indicate the various features of the invention, like numerals referring to like features throughout for both the drawing figures and the written description.